Wasn’t the Exxon Valdez refined oil? So it was thick. This oil is a natural substance. Aren’t there naturally occurring oil leaks all the time?
I dont know. I remember hearing back then that there was a bacteria that would eat oil. That surprised me because I thought of the oil as being like the motor oil you put in a car and could only imagine that that kind of oil would kill bacteria and anything else.
Yeah, I guess there are natural occurring leaks all the time. That surprised me also.
No, it was crude. But oils vary very widely as to the mix of hydrocarbons they contain. Some has a lot of short-chain hydrocarbons, some has a lot of long-chain hydrocarbons. "Light crude" means it has more "gasoline-like" (short-chain). "Heavy crude" has more "tar-like" (long-chain). "Light crude" is easier to refine, "heavy crude" harder.
"This oil is a natural substance. Aren’t there naturally occurring oil leaks all the time?"
Yes.
The bottomof the gulf is bubbling oil constantly. Nobody writes about that,,there is constant oil leaking in the gulf.
Yep, the seas leak more oil every year than the ‘spill’ that is happening now..
I believe it was heavy crude, which is much different than the light sweet crude that is coming out of the Gulf.
The Heavy crude is less desirable because it takes more energy and time (and money) to refine. The light sweet crude is what everyone wants.